Posts Tagged ‘LocoCycle’

XBox One has been out for about two weeks now and I know I haven’t posted any reviews yet, but I am sorry I’ve been busy… playing XBox One. It’s not that I didn’t want to share my experiences with you all but between XBox One, work and shooting for Whiskey and Waffles, it has definitely eaten into my review time.

But as is the policy here on The Flickcast, if anyone sends us a copy of something we review it and I am holding up to that end of the bargain as the team over at Twisted Pixel have sent me a download code for Lococycle.

The Long

The guys from Twisted Pixel Games have done a great job of creating compelling characters even with limited time to get the story across because of the average length of a XBox Live Arcade game being shorter than your standard fair in their past titles. The most interesting aspect of Lococycle is that they are able to do this with a character who doesn’t even speak English as one of the main protagonists.

A sentient motorcycle named I.R.I.S. accidentally hooks her Spanish speaking mechanic and makes a run across borders to the Freedom Rally while being chased by “her” creator Big Arms. While I did love ‘Splosion Man and Ms. ‘Splosion Man, the repeated quips did quickly grow repetitive. In Lococycle though, there were only a few very rare occurrences that it felt like a line was repeated. The entire time, I.R.I.S.’s personality just kept building.

If you follow The Flickcast, you know we have always been fans of TwistedPixel and their games since the first time we met the guys at Comic-Con in 2009. Since, they have given us ‘Splosion Man, Comic Jumper, Ms. ‘Splosion Man (which I actually jokingly predicted from a press release) and their first full retail game, the Gunstringer for Kinect.

So when we heard they were acquired by Microsoft, we were hoping they’d be allowed to continue doing what they do best, unlike Rare which became the prime driving force behind avatars. Luckily, from the look of the new LocoCycle trailer which was revealed during Microsoft’s E3 Press Conference (and can be seen below), it looks like Microsoft is keeping the avatars far away from TwistedPixel.

In the trailer, there is a sleek, almost Tron-like cycle being slowly revealed while a voiceover talks about a trailed and seemingly unstoppable female assassin. The big reveal, it looks like the bike is the assassin.

How this will play out in the game, we have no idea yet but with TwistedPixel behind the helm, we can’t wait to find out. Take a peek below at the trailer and give your thoughts.

As we told you earlier, Microsoft kicked off their E3 festivities with what could be considered a fairly standard and unsurprising Press Conference. As expected, they announced the anticipated console exclusive, Halo4. Upping the ante from last year, this E3 brought gameplay footage of Halo 4 to the audience with a first look at the new enemies and weapons as well as some familiar faces from past Halos. Microsoft would follow with footage of the new Splinter Cell: Black List which uses enhanced Kinect controls.

Following on the Kinect bandwagon, EA debuted footage of the latest Fifa and Madden franchises. In Fifa, players will be able to make coaching decisions and their reactions will be read by the Kinect and penalties may even be awarded based on poor sportsmanship. In Madden, NFL Hall of Fame Quarterback Joe Montana demonstrated the game’s new Kinect enabled play calling features.

After the Fable: The Journey trailer, Microsoft Studios brought out studio head Phil Spencer who introduced the trailer for the new Gears of War: Judgment, staring Baird, and then the latest racing experience with Forza Horizon.